Deyonta Davis' NBA Draft declaration leaves team with three open scholarships

The Michigan State basketball team suffered more bad news Tuesday when talented power forward Deyonta Davis decided to declare for the NBA Draft and hire an agent.

Davis, who averaged 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds as a freshman in addition to starting 16 of the final 17 games of the season, is projected to go in the top-15 picks in the draft as a 6-10 shot blocker with upside offensively.

"I asked Coach Izzo and Coach Guy (his high school coach) to do research for me," Davis said, via MLive.com. "The information that came back made me decide to enter the draft. It was a tough decision, but after talking to my family and coaches, I felt it was the right decision and one I'm fully committed to."

Tom Izzo was supportive of his player's decision even though it marks only the second time he's had a player leave for the NBA after one season (Zach Randolph).

"As a coach, my job is to help my players grow both on and off the basketball court," Izzo said. "Over the last year, Deyonta has improved as a player, as he is just starting to tap his true potential. Off the court, there is no question that he has grown by leaps and bounds as he matures as a young man.

Since the Spartans lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Middle Tennessee, they have lost two players to transfer. Five-star recruit Joshua Jackson chose Kansas over Michigan State and Arizona, and now Davis is out of the picture.

Michigan State, who does have the No. 3 recruiting class in 2016, now has three open scholarships next season. They could become very active in the graduate transfer market in the next few weeks as they try to fill a couple holes heading into next season, since highly-pursued prospect Josh Jackson picked Kansas.